The Learn Squared Podcast

Darren Bartley is your next guest on the Learn Squared Podcast, and Darren's artistry is a joy to behold! Although, if you ask, he will state he is not an artist at all, as Design and world-building are where Darren's creative mind is at! In this episode, Darren shares what he believes is critical to being able to be your best creative self and how he can give each of his worlds a unique voice, lo...

Our newest instructor, Daniele Solimene, joins us to talk about his epic new course, Concept Art for Video Games. While excelling in your career is a serious matter, there is plenty of fun to be had as an artist. Daniele shares what went into his course that targets beginner, intermediate and experienced students simultaneously, the things you need to be successful at when producing Concept Art fo...

The Legendary James Clyne joins us for this episode, where he drops some juicy insights into the mentality and qualities you need to have to work in the entertainment industry, how to avoid its pitfalls, and how to strive for originality. James definitely knows a thing or two as he has worked in a multitude of roles from Concept Artist to Art Director, working for Hollywood's greats like Steven Sp...

Senior Art Director Dan Martin is a friendly face over here at Learn Squared being one of our first students when we launched and is a bonafide creative in his own right. And Dan joins us to talk about many things we can all relate to as we move along our creative paths. From finding what your true calling is, how to identify when you need to make a change and over coming obstacles. We also share...

Brand New Learn Squared Instructor Kris Brady joins us for an inspirational episode where we discover his path toward mastery and talk about his incredible new course, MASTERING FILM UI. In this episode, Kris shares how he started when UI design and animation was a niche and how he levelled up and progressed over the years to work in Film (Black Panther, Love, Death & Robots, Aquaman & more) and c...

Concept Artist Mel Cummings joins us for today's episode. She reveals how she made it as a Concept Artist when her pathway to becoming one was not obviously clear and why this journey is one of the main reasons she mentors and guides upcoming artists when she is not busy working in TV and Games on titles such as Marvel's Secret Invasion, PUBG, APEX, and more. Mel also reveals her battle with depre...

Learn Squared Instructor Alex FIgini (Concepting in ZBrush) joins us for this episode to discuss many topics, including the current state of our industry, recent job losses, how AI technology is probably going to affect us moving forward, and why it is important for you to be different! LEARN FROM AND FOLLOW ALEX https://www.learnsquared.com/courses/concepting-zbrush https://www.artstation.com/ale...

Join us for today's episode as Concept Designer & Artist Kay Tang shares her journey of turning pro while still in university, her evolution as a freelancer, and her decision to move and build her career as an artist in Japan! We'll also tackle pressing issues creatives encounter today, what it takes to push your craft, how your cultural identity can impact you, and much more! - FOLLOW KAY TANG ht...

Concept Artist & Concept 101 co-founder Stefan Valasek drops by the podcast to share what it is like to break into the industry as a young artist, how he got his first job, to what he is doing now to further his craft while revealing the tools he uses to not let the pressures we face as modern day artists and the joy and power of sketching! - FOLLOW STEFAN https://www.artstation.com/rorankladivo h...

Concept Artist Niklas Nebelsieck joins us for an incredible episode. We get up close and personal with what it takes to be a creative and how mental health and the environment around us impact it all. We also hear about the exciting opportunities Niklas is getting after building his portfolio and how Learn Squared helped out along the way. FOLLOW NIKLAS https://www.artstation.com/niklas_nebelsieck...

The Legendary Brian Sum joins us for a fabulous episode where we hear how his IP AFTRMRKT came to life, the amount of hustle, energy & craft that went into this incredible book, and what's next in this universe. Brain also shares how he started out as an animator before switching gears and becoming a concept artist working on Mass Effect Series plus what it is like balancing life as an enterpenuer...

Pablo Dominguez returns to our Learn Squared shores with 2 New Courses and with nearly 4 years since Pablo last joined us on the podcast, we get a great look into how much more Pablo has furthered his career by working on big projects in the industry, how his skills have evolved in the process and why he is teaching them and how his philosophy has grown in what is his eighth year as a professional...

Ash Thorp is a creative legend who has inspired a generation of artists and continues to do so. Either through his rich and diverse creative endeavors from Filmmaking to Car Design or when creating magic for iconic IPs like he did when designing the most recent Batmobile, Ash, who is also one of our original co-founders and instructors, joins us to give us a glimpse into the lengths he goes to per...

LEARN FROM ADAM https://www.learnsquared.com/courses/grounded-costume-design Our newest instructor Adam Middleton, reveals how he got his first ever job in the industry at Weta Workshop and how working on titles such as Avatar: The Way of Water, Dune, The Creator, and many more helped him forge his stunning and workflow which he teaches in his course Grounded Costume Design. This episode is packed...

Alex, also known as Noax, is a highly skilled designer who has contributed his expertise to games such as Star Citizen and Call of Duty. On today's episode of the podcast, he shares with us the key ingredients to success in the field of concept design, along with his personal journey and what it's teaching him about his future. FOLLOW ALEX https://www.artstation.com/noax-design https://www.instagr...

Art Director and Concept Artist Zhoslen Makoev joined Learn Squared as a student when we launched back in 2015, and he dropped by today to talk about how he built a his playable project DUST in Unreal Engine as well as his journey to being one of the co-founders of BigMediumSmall and the joys of food plus much more.  Please note: We ran into a technical issue with Zhoslen's original audio recordin...

Concept Designer Matthew Savage joins us for a fabulous episode by providing us the secrets needed to forge a successful career in the Entertainment Design Industry as well as the highs and lows of it and how he navigated the recent strikes. FOLLOW MATTHEW https://www.mattsavconcept.com/ https://www.instagram.com/mattsav.concept FOLLOW LEARN SQUARED ( ALL First Lessons are FREE!) https://www.learn...

Our Concept Art in UE5 instructor, Ellie Cooper, drops by to celebrate the release of her TWO courses that are all about allowing artists to use Unreal Engine 5 with ease and flair. We find out the theory and aims of the course and how Ellie has built a career and company from her mastery of Unreal Engine. We also talk about dealing with the mental pressure of being a creative professional and muc...

Our brand new learn squared instructor KleinerHai is here to talk about his secrets on developing his jaw-dropping IP titled 'On The Way' and how these secrets also form the very fabric of his course Sketching Everything, which is available right now (and with Early Bird pricing for a limited time) and much more. - FOLLOW & LEARN FROM KLEINER https://www.learnsquared.com/courses/sketching-everythi...

Concept Artist Jules Darriulat shares his journey from hustling for art jobs & experience to working on movies at Framestore. We also discuss the phenomenon of needing to prove yourself as an artist and what that entails. This ep covers many topics, such as Jules's journey co-founding the Concept 101 event, mentoring, and much more.  - FOLLOW JULES https://www.artstation.com/julesdarriulat https:/...

Henry Wong joins us for an inspiring & thought-provoking episode where we look at artistry & ego and how they can manifest for a working Artist. Henry also openly shares some of the toughest moments in his career and how he navigated them while telling his extraordinary experiences on projects such as Across the Spider-verse and many more.  - FOLLOW HENRY https://www.artstation.com/manwithnorice h...

Concept Artist Daniel McGarry drops by for today's episode about how he secured his first industry job at ILM and all the steps he took to make that happen. We also discuss all the ingredients needed to build a solid career and how important it is for Daniel to give back to the art community through mentoring and co-founding the industry event Concept 101. Plenty to chew on in this episode. - FOLL...

Concept Art Student Fil Borgmann drops by for today's episode, where we get a first-hand account of what it's like being a student & breaking into the industry in this current climate of AI, and technology. Fil also has crafted some juicy homework from our courses and he shares some compelling insights for someone so early in their journey!  - FOLLOW FIL https://www.artstation.com/fll https://www....

Concept Designer Till Freitag is known for his distinctive styles and passion for Vehicles, Props, and everything in between! On top of being a badass Artist, Till, along with his friends, have been making their own Games, too, with ABRISS being their first title. So check out this packed episode and learn about Till's journey and process. - FOLLOW TILL https://www.artstation.com/imrahil https://w...

Our BRAND NEW instructor, Luis Carrasco joins us and shares why fixing your design skills is the key to producing better concepts and how it took time for Luis to realize this. So, enjoy this episode where we dive into this topic and how Luis will be teaching his proven method in his Learn Squared course, which you can sign up for below. SIGN UP FOR RETHINKING WEAPON DESIGN https://www.learnsquare...